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Cytokines

TNF rises to the occasion

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 7, page 920 (2007)Cite this article

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TNF-antagonist therapy is widely used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, in which dysregulated or excessive TNF production has been implicated. However, there is evidence to suggest that TNF-specific therapy is linked to an increased incidence of malignancies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Understanding the consequences of TNF blockade, therefore, is important, but is complicated by contradictory reports on the role of TNF in the regulation of T-cell responses.

To address this issue, Calzascia et al. investigated whether the involvement and relevance of TNF in immunity is associated with the immunostimulatory properties of the antigen. They used the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) glycoprotein as a model antigen in LCMV infection (which induces a strong inflammatory response) or in a tumour model (in which a glycoprotein-expressing spontaneous tumour acts as a stimulus associated with limited immunostimulatory capacity).

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Calzascia, T. et al. TNF-α is critical for antitumor but not antiviral T cell immunity in mice. J. Clin. Invest. 8 November 2007 (doi:10.1172/JCI32567)

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Authors
  1. Sharon Ahmad
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Ahmad, S. TNF rises to the occasion. Nat Rev Immunol 7, 920 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2223

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2223

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